It is getting to be that time for another trip out to Las Vegas, or as some call it Lost Wages. It is now the Grandfatherly attitude that I have when I go there, since two of our children are there, not to mention five grandchildren. The city has certainly changed since I first started going there back in the Seventies. The glamour is gone, at least in my eyes of the way the city used to be. Some people may prefer the new Vegas, but I enjoyed going out every night in a suit and tie and enjoy a different world.

Even the hotels are different, while some are foolish to me; others are so opulent, that they would have been perfect back in the day. The only thing is that back in the day, everything was geared around the tables, and everything else was just a “gimme.” Even the flight to Vegas was high energy, but a lot of them were junkets back then, with everyone getting into the spirit before they even landed. Food, liquor and tobacco back in the days were all “gimmees.” Perhaps at certain levels of play, they still are, but back then it was the norm.

As I get ready to start packing the suitcases and yes I still take sport coats and even some ties and cufflinks to make it through the week, because for me Las Vegas still has that allure. Even the entertainment back in the day was a “gimme” and that included “line passes” which was the term that allowed you to walk past all the people that were waiting in line to get into the theater to have dinner, drinks and the show. The “line pass” put you immediately to the front of the line and naturally a great table for dinner. On night at Caesar’s Palace going to see Tom Jones besides dinner, management also sent over a bottle of G.H. Mumm Cuvee Rene Lalou. Another time and another show Don Ho was performing at a dinner show and I ended up with a bottle of his personal “champagne” that he gave out called “Tiny Bubbles.” I would venture to say that what happens now in Vegas for me tends to be quite calm and usually centered around grandchildren, but I can guarantee that there will still be wine.